The Future is Now
by Pandora North Star
Summary: 20 years after Buffy's death the world is dark and chaotic. Along with the reincarnated Buffy aka Elizabeth Spike returns to Sunnydale to face his past and save the world.Eventual Crossover! W/F, A/C, A/X, W/T, Liz/Connor
1. Default Chapter

Title: The Future is Now  
Summary: 20 yeas after Buffy's death Spike is a key ally in the war of vampires versus Slayers. He meets a certain person that makes him face up to his past.   
'Had it really been 20 years?*  
Spike pulled his coat closer to his body, the snow still seeping in. Filthy London snow. People walked around him, unseeing. The devastation of the war torn country was apparent in the drabness of the city. The war between vampires and humans. And he was caught in the middle.  
He had left Sunnydale after Buffy died, unable to get over her death. He had come back to the place of his birth hoping he could rest in peace. But the world had other plans as chaos started to take hold. Without a Slayer to keep the demons and vampires in check they had started to conquer. First London, attacking the council then spreading all over.   
He helped. In London. He couldn't face them back in Sunnydale. So that's where he had been. Fighting the good fight in England, still torn by the fact he was righteous and soulless.   
There had been times, late at night, after harrowing days that he held a phone number clutched in his fingers. But then he got over it. It was to late to go back. And he didn't want to know what other things had happened. He had let her down. Let Dawn down. Left her high and dry and alone. He hated it. It was what fueled him forward, yet kept him caught between his past and future.   
He wasn't looking where he was going as he walked, he was immersed in thoughts. In what the Council had asked him to do. Before the war had broken out they wouldn't have ever thought of him as an ally. But they needed all the help they could get.  
"Hey!" Spike looked up, startled. He could see the silhouette of a girl in front of him. That he had bumped into. The street lights behind her gave off a garish yellow. He looked closer.   
"Get out of my way." His eyes adjusted quickly and he noticed she had a nose ring in her little nose. Then he noticed her black rimmed blueish green eyes. He took a deep breath.  
"What's your problem?" She sneered. Her golden hair still sparkled despite the darkness.   
"Sorry."  
"You better be." He furrowed his scarred brow. Those eyes, so familiar. He grabbed her arm.  
"What are you doing?" She squealed losing her confidence for a brief second. Then she composed herself.   
"Buffy?"  
"No. Sorry Mister." She wrenched her arm away. "Elizabeth."  
"How old are you?"  
Perv. Get away." She tried to go past him but suddenly fell forward and they tumbled together.  
"What do we have here? A pair of young lovers." Spike looked up. At the gathering clan of vampires and judged the danger. They looked pretty young.   
"Stay low and behind me. I'll take care of this." He whispered to the girl, his face changing.   
Her face was an expression as he jumped up and was swallowed by the crowd. The girl waited until the attention was away from her and looked around. She grabbed a piece of broken crate from nearby, shadowed by the alley. She ripped a piece off and sprinted into the sea of people.   
It seemed endless. The claws and teeth that ripped at Spike. But he liked a good fight. As he fought the numbers seemed to be falling rapidly until he was alone, well not alone, he was facing the girl with a piece of wood clutched in her hand.  
"Who are you?"  
"I might ask you the same question." The snow had subsided during the fight and he could see clearly now, through the darkness. The stance was so hauntingly familiar. "Faith died?"  
"So you know? What are you?"  
"I'm Spike." Instinctively Spike reached into the flaps of his coats and pulled out a smoke.   
"So you're Spike?" She lowered her stake as he raised a brow.  
"You've heard of me?"  
"Maybe. We should go."  
"What's this we business?" Spike shuddered. At first hope had shot through him but now, seeing this girl who reminded him so much of Buffy was alarming and frightening. Because Buffy was dead and in Heaven. He had to believe. "I have a mission."  
"Why do you think I bumped into you? It wasn't a coincidence." A smug grin appeared on her face. "I'm sorry if that annoys you or whatever. We just have to be cautious. You never know. Now are we going to get the book or what?"  
The book. A one of a kind book hidden up north. It held the answers to the questions of how to beat the vampires. Spike had been assigned the mission of leaving that night to go retrieve it. It hadn't been retrieved before because there were some powerful spells guarding it that no normal human could get through. He had been on his way to his car when he met this girl.  
"This book must be really important, if they are taking the Slayer away from her duties."  
"Yeah. It is." She crossed her arms. She couldn't have been more than 16 or 17. She looked tough but he understood the softness in a Slayer. It was her empty heart. He understood more than anyone would ever know. "I heard about you."  
She sat on the edge of her seat, as far from him as she could. She rubbed her half gloved fingers together for warmth. What did his clunker need heat for?   
"What did you hear?"  
"Stuff. You used to be bad. And then you got neutered and you were good. And you loved a Slayer." She turned to him with distain dripping from her words. "Hard to believe."  
"Yeah. Well." Spike gripped the steering wheel.  
"You think I look like her." He almost veered the car off. Sure he had thought she was Buffy, but he never said anything.  
"I can tell. It's only written all over your face. And the fact you called me Buffy." She smiled.   
"You do." They were quiet. The car sputtered and complained as they made their way out of the city towards the rural parts of England. The parts yet to be reached by the modern world. It make Spike feel better, like he had stepped back into better times.   
"So…"  
"You were born here?"  
"17 years ago."  
"English."  
"Yep. That would make me English. You are really weird you know that? It must be the lack of blood."  
"You're funny."  
"Hear you used to be before you got all lame and good."  
"Complain all you want, but you'd run if I was myself."  
"No. I'd kill you. That's what I do. I'm not her."  
"Sure?" He turned with a lick of his lips. "You got her stubbornness. She didn't like me at first. Either."  
"Then she got stupid." Elizabeth crossed her arms as Spike grabbed her shirt, managing to keep the car going.   
"Let's get one thing clear girl, you don't talk that way about Buffy, and I don't leave you out here to die. Plenty of vampires, only one Slayer. You do the math." He let go, or rather she yanked his fingers from her shirt. "No one will ever be as good as Buffy. Especially you." He could tell the last comment stung, and she shrunk further into her chair.  
It had been so long since he had worried about a human, especially a young one, and he forgot how quickly their feelings were hurt.  
"Are you hungry? We could stop in a little while."  
"I'm fine. We need to do this as quick as possible. I'm getting sent to America as soon as I get back." She paused. "They're spreading ya know. This book will help a lot but it won't stop it. Let's face it. We went to long without a Slayer like her." Spike took this as a gesture of sorry.   
"I know. Been doing all I bloody well could. I bet you're going to Sunnydale."  
"Makes sense. They're having trouble…That's where she lived."  
"Yeah." The girl preened at her semi matted blond hair. After driving for about an hour the car started making noises and then the engine rolled over and died.  
"Bollocks. Of all the bloody luck." Spike growled slamming the steering wheel. He yanked the door open and looked around. They at least had ended up in a small village. He could smell snow in the air. "I bet there's an inn. Come on." She slammed the door and started marching up the street. Elizabeth followed. 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Spike looked across the room to the girl in the other bed. She was asleep, her boots on the floor next to her. She must have led a rough life. He figured. She was so much like Faith, but she looked like Buffy. It was hard to believe how much the world had changed in the last few years.   
It had taken Faith awhile to die, starting a chain reaction, that was irreversible. Living in the world today, especially as a Slayer, it hardened you, and he felt sorry for her. The moonlight came in, bathing him, patterned by the blasted snow. He hoped they could get the car fixed or else they would have to borrow one, or even walk. That's how important it was, this mysterious one of a kind book.   
"Dawny! I'm sorry. I loved you." Spike turned and saw the young girl thrashing about in the bed. He listened to her words with alarm, afraid to believe all his feelings were true.   
"Buffy?" He moaned. He shifted off the bed and knelt beside Elizabeth, watching her in her sleep. "I love them. I love them all. I'm ok." She yelped, almost with anger. Spike couldn't bare to watch anymore so he grabbed her and shook her awake. "Wake up girl!"  
"Spike?" For a moment, between awake and asleep he saw her in Elizabeth's eyes, he saw something real. Then they returned to Elizabeth's eyes, hard and cold.   
"Get off me perv." She snapped pushing him away.  
"You were having a nightmare and I couldn't bloody sleep."  
"I know I was." She snapped. "Thanks."  
"You're welcome."  
"I don-t even remember what it was about. Strange huh?"  
"Yeah, strange." They both eventually fell asleep and Spike woke again when he smelled burning flesh and jumped out of the window light not a moment to soon. Elizabeth tossed a blanket at him and he put out the fire.   
"I'll take the one by the door. How stupid am I. You get the one by the window next time you stupid bint." Spike complained. Elizabeth's lips pursed as she surpressed laughter. Spike took his coat up and they went downstairs.  
"What do you mean you can't fix it? We've got to get up north."   
"We don't 'ave the parts for a car like this. I'm sorry lad." The man shook his head. "For curiosity's sake, why do ya 'ave a blanket over yer 'ead?"  
"He's allergic to the sun." Elizabeth explained.  
"Well I think I 'ave one you could borrow if it's that urgent."  
"Yes. Please."  
"What will you give me in return?" They looked at each other.   
"I got this." Elizabeth pulled an antique pocket watch from the depths of her down coat. The man snatched it. "It has sentimental value. It belonged to my Grandfather. We just need to go north and when we come back we can get our car."  
"Sounds right. That 'eap o junk ain't going anywhere." The man pulled keys out of his pocket and pointed out the window. They thanked him and went out to the car which looked like it was in worse condition than Spike's. Spike jumped inside and went to take off the blanket but realized the sun still streamed in the windows.  
"Damn it. It's either snow or sun. I don't get a blasted choice."  
"Give me the keys."  
"You?"  
"I can drive. I'm not a baby."  
"Slayers usually don't have time to learn."  
"We have no choice." Spike slid over and listened from under his blanket as they Slayer took over. She was about as good as driving as Buffy had been. They bumped along roads and every once in awhile Spike dared to peek out from under his blanket to check the map. "So how far? Are we talking Scotland? I don't do Scotland."  
"No. Not that far. But close enough." He tightened the blanket against the sun and felt glad he didn't have to breath or he would have suffocated by then.  
"What's America like?"  
"The same as here. Keep driving."  
"How much farther? My leg's getting cramped."  
"Your leg. How about my whole body? Do you know how horrible it is to be tucked under a blanket all day and night?"  
"I once sailed with my Watcher on a Cargo ship to France in the hold."  
"Speaking of Watcher's haven't seen yours. Aren't they supposed to be watching. Especially at a time like this with a guy like me." The girl didn't respond and Spike dared to poke his head up. He could see tears in the corners of her eyes, but she kept her head straight ahead.  
"Your watcher dead?"  
"Yes. She died in the attack of the Council last month. Since then their haven't been any to spare. I've pretty much been dusting any I see, up until they told me to follow you and help you find the book. God, if they hadn't been so dumb and discovered it before. We might have headed off this whole disaster.   
"I know Buffy's first watcher died. And Faith's watcher died."  
"Yeah. That's what people do." She growled. Such a tough little thing. He had to remember she never had the support system Buffy did.   
"I think we're almost there."  
"How can you tell? There's nothing up here? We're barely on a dirt road."  
"It's a two lane highway."  
"Close enough. Where am I going?"  
"Take your next left onto the dirt road." Spike peeped at her and saw a grin on her lips. "You'll see this thing that looks like Stonehenge. But that isn't it. We passed that yesterday. Park there."  
"Ok boss." Spike nestled back in the blanket and closed his eyes. It would be night again soon. He could picture the moon, beautiful and full. The council had timed it so they would pick up the book on a night of the full moon. It would aid their retrieval. But it wouldn't be easy. 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3  
"Creepy." Elizabeth looked up at the huge stone slabs.   
"Can you just imagine how long these have been here?" Spike ran his fingers down the rock surface, not fully sanded, rough and cold. He snatched his fingers away, remembering a time long ago when he had been with Dru up north on the main continent. They thought they would have died hiking up the mountain in the snow. He saw the girl shiver violently and realized they had to work quickly. "Follow me." Spike went through a large stone archway towards the center of the pillars. In the center there seemed to be a bumpy boulder sticking out of the ground, but Spike knew better. He bent down on the taller side and touched the ground in front of him. It crumbled revealing a doorway cut into the stone just below ground level. He looked at Elizabeth for a moment then jumped down. The little hole was barely big enough to hold both of them, but with both of their strength they managed to push the door in.  
Spike's firs thought was how could this hollowed out cave hold up the pillars? But when he lit a match to give them momentary light, more for Elizabeth's need than his, he saw the answer. They extended down into the ground, supporting the earth above their heads.  
"It smells in here." Elizabeth observed.  
"Quiet." Spike listened with his sensitive hearing, straining to pick up any sounds in the depths of the man made caves.  
"Why is the book down here? Why not a museum, or guarded by someone?"  
"Who says it's not?" As he listened Spike heard the very distant steps of some very large thing.  
"Elizabeth, did you understand that we aren't getting this book from our side, we're stealing it from them? They don't want us to have it."  
"Duh." She slapped a stake into his hands. Smart girl. He certainly hadn't brought anything with him. All his weapons were still in the trunk of his car. "That sounds like a very big thing." Elizabeth fretted.  
"You haven't faced anything until you've faced a God." Spike said tightly. He rolled the stake in his hand, wishing it was a sword or mace. The first thing they saw were the red eyes of the creature. And then the fire.  
"Holy crap. That's a dragon." Elizabeth rasped.  
"No. It's another demon that's a descendent of a dragon. It's a Draconis demon."  
"Same thing." The demon's steps made the dirt under their feet quiver. Spike reasoned that he was more afraid of it than Elizabeth. If he was on fire for too long he would just combust. Then poof. No more Spike. "Do you remember the story of St George and the Dragon?"  
"Yeah."  
"Ok, Spike go for the throat." Suddenly she darted past him with a war cry. He stood, shocked for moment as the girl, fearlessly leaped towards the beast. Her blond hair memorized him. It stirred up his painful past, and also the need to win this time around.   
He shook himself out and headed forward. He could smell the charred breath of the demon as it's head snapped towards him. The room was not very high and the demon took up most of the room. If he managed to trap them, it would be all over. Elizabeth dodged to the left and Spike darted to the right. Huge claws reached out towards him, one catching his coat.  
"I've had that for 44 years you damn dragon!" Spike growled .  
"Maybe he's trying to tell you something about your fashion sense!" Elizabeth used a rock outcropping to help her flip, making her land right on the back of the Draconis demon. The demon's head jerked upward exposing the neck.  
"Smart girl." Spike grinned and raced forward. He sunk the stake into the soft flesh under the jaw. The demon howled before the sounds were cut off as Spike jammed the wood in further. He felt fire breath over him, one last bellow before it went out. The demon wavered and Spike moved to get out of the way, feeling the top of his head burned a little.  
"Damn." He muttered stepping away. The demon crashed to the ground and Elizabeth got up with a smile.   
"Good work."   
"You too." He kicked the demon for good measure and headed around it, deeper underground. The earth sloped downward, no wonder it had taken the thing so long to get up there. He heard Elizabeth slip behind him in the pebbled ground and he felt her barrel into him. He reached behind him in the darkness to stop her and keep himself upright. They became intertwined and he fell too. He winced as the rocks burned his exposed flesh. They tumbled, bruising forming the whole time until they hit level ground.  
"Spike?"  
"You ok Slayer?"  
"I think so. But you're on my leg." Spike wiggled away and they both stood up. He could see her in the darkness and reached out. She shrunk under his hands and he felt the slickness of blood.  
"You're bleeding."  
"You are too. But we're fine. We both heel fast, remember?"  
"Still, you have to be more cautious. Something could have been waiting down here for us." Spike walked past her, scared by his own concern for her. He had to remind himself she was completely different than that past life. But she was going to face it any how, in him, and then when they went back to Sunnydale. The name sent a chill up his spine. What choice did he have?  
"Was that it? Now we just grab it and go?"  
"Doubt that. Wouldn't be that easy."  
"Easy. You think that was easy-Urg. Never mind." Elizabeth scowled at him in the darkness. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
They could tell they were coming close to the demon's lair when the stench grew. It was the smell of burn and decay. The hall they were in opened in a large cavern full of…  
"Treasure!" Elizabeth yelled with glee.  
"Don't touch any of it." Spike snapped grabbing her wrist. "It's being protected by the demon for a reason."  
"I wasn't going to touch it." Elizabeth wriggled her wrist away. "I just think it's a pity we can't take it back and use it for good, like helping the poor."  
"God, you're full of it. You wanted to wear it you dumb bint. No one gets anything past me."  
"I'm a girl aren't I? Elizabeth moved from him, able to see with the reflection of dim light on the thousands of golden objects.   
"Keep a lookout for a book." Spike wadded through the gold and silver and gemstones, would have picked them up at any other time. But now he wanted to get out of their with the book and on the road. If they were lucky they would be back in that town just around dawn and take a room for the day and go back the next night.   
"Spike." He perked up and looked across the room. Elizabeth was pointing to something on the ground that seemed to be glowing. He hurried over and saw the book, it had an aura around it, a soft amber glow.   
"Hmm." Spike chewed his lip, not sure what to do. "Do you still have that stake?"  
"Yeah." she handed it to him and he reached down. He poked the aura around the book. Nothing happened except the stake slid into the glow like a spoon in pudding. It make a sucking sound when he pulled it out.   
"Do you hear something?" Spike turned to Elizabeth as a great hissing sound filled the room. The walls seemed to move.  
"Bats. Run." He reached for the book, no time to lose and raced towards the doorway. Bats flew around their heads, scratching his already burned head. Then the walls started to crumble. Dirt fell around him.   
"It's caving!" Elizabeth shrieked. Spike grimaced and dug his heels into the ground as they hiked back up to the entrance. It didn't help that dirt was rolling down at them. They made it to the entrance, then Spike hoisted Elizabeth up the hole. He gripped for purchase as it caved towards him. He got out just as it fell in. The whole ground sank and the pillars stayed put. He fell to the ground and took a deep breath out of habit. The book had stopped glowing and looked very ordinary and unmagical now.  
"We did it." Elizabeth breathed collapsing next to him.   
"I don't want to get up." Spike moaned, the effects of the fight starting to be felt in his bones.   
"Come on." Elizabeth stumbled to her feet and held out her hand. Spike took it gladly and hoisted himself up, grabbing the book. They made their way to the car and Spike slid into the driver's seat.  
Elizabeth held the book as they drove back to the hotel. She was asleep in the seat when they arrived, the sun just peeking over the horizon. The woman at the desk gave him a curious look but he gave her a polite smile as he carried Elizabeth and the book into their bedroom. He collapsed on his bed, thoughts of sleep heavy on his mind. He was asleep before he had the chance to yawn. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
It was night again when they crawled out of bed. Across the street to the shop, their car was there, ready. The man at the counter smiled.   
"'Ow'd it go?"  
"Fine mate." They traded keys.   
They were back in Spike's good old car. Safe from sunlight, even though it were night. He ran his hands on the cracked pleather. Elizabeth sat, her eyes closed, the book in her lap looking very tired.  
"I imagine that as soon as we get back we'll be shipped off to America. I can't say I'm going to miss the scummy streets in London, vampires on every corner. It's kind of crazy that these people up here have no idea how fast the spread is. I wish we could stay here, away from it all." Spike cocked his head at Elizabeth, a little surprised. She hadn't said more than one sentence in a row the whole time they had been working together. "What?" She smiled at him.  
"You're talking." Spike pointed out. "To me. None sarcastically."  
"I guess I'm happy we're alive. I really thought that dragon would have gotten one of us. Did you see those teeth?"  
"Had worse breath than most of the demons I've met." Spike agreed with a chuckle.   
"You're coming to America with me right?" Spike didn't respond. "Please Spike?"  
"What the bloody hell do you want me for? I'm no good for you Slayer." Spike said icily.   
"You're just afraid." Elizabeth growled clutching the book to her chest. "I just thought," she started, loosening, "That it wouldn't be so bad if you came with me. We work well together."  
Spike felt bad. It was heartbreaking to him to have to say no, but as much as he had thought about going back the past few days he didn't know if he could handle it.   
"If you don't go with me, I'll have to go alone." A lump formed in his throat, like a thump of a heartbeat. After all they had been through he had grown fond of the girl, she reminded him of Dawn, like a little sister in a way. The look of her face reminded him all to much of the hope Buffy had in him before she died. It was enough to seal the deal.  
"I'll go." Spike said, defeated.   
"Thank you." Elizabeth laid her hand on the arm of Spike's ripped. Coat . Her head sank down on his shoulder, and her long blond hair cascading down his chest. So this was the girl behind the dark makeup and tough exterior.   
Spike could tell when they arrived in London. It was not only the smell and the look but the feeling of darkness that permeated everything, not unlike Sunnydale, with the energy of the hell mouth circulating around the town. They drove straight to the Watcher's Council, the usual harrying at the gate before driving in.  
The place always gave Spike a chill, and he knew it was from an invasion he did in 1940. He didn't think they ever forgave him, no matter what he did. The council was so different from what he remembered. The group of uppity British people had given way to young rebels, that mirrored his look in the 1970's. It was a group of people grim from war.   
The women who opened the front door had spiky brown hair and a don't-mess-with-me attitude. "Hey Danica." Elizabeth said pushing in past the woman. She gave Spike a steely look before she let him pass.   
"Do you have the book?" Elizabeth handed her the book.  
"Good job." The woman said with no feeling. She shuffled off down the hallway and then turned with what seemed like an after thought. "The council is meeting. They'll give you instructions when they are done." She left and they stood there awkwardly.   
"So…" Elizabeth pretended to admire a painting on the wall. "Why don't you tell me more about Buffy's friends?"  
"When I left…When I left." Spike tried to tell her but it was so painful. "When I left Willow was a powerful Wicca, Xander was well Xander, Anya owned the magic shop, but she could be dead. She got hurt that time. And then there was her sister who she died trying to save."  
"The key right?"  
"Her name was Dawn."  
"Sorry."  
"And then there was Cordy and Angel, in LA. I suppose you know about them. I try not to keep track of them anymore. I keep to myself."  
"I've heard of Angel, in the Watcher's Diaries. We lost so many of them in the fire a few years back. It's a pity." Spike remembered the fire. It was one of the first attacks at the beginning of the war.  
" I think I'm going to go patrolling. Stay here." Spike spun on his heels and stomped out. He couldn't talk about it any more without getting worked up so he just left, as he always did.  
He didn't have any stakes but he didn't really care. He was in the mood for beating the crap out of things and ripping hearts out. That was the kind of emotion the Scooby gang still managed to elicit from him.  
"Damn them." Spike growled to himself. He wondered how they would react to this little Buffy. Would they know it was her the way he did, just by looking at her? A vampire got in his way and he shoved him against the wall, not really even seeing him, lost in his thoughts. 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6  
"You will report to Sunnydale by tomorrow morning, radioing back the status of the town. We have allies there and once you have gotten in contact with them you will start phase two of your mission."  
"Hey James Bond, explain?" Spike raised his brow. Elizabeth had still been waiting when he returned and they had finally been admitted in to see the council.  
"You will meet up with some of your old friends Spike. Elizabeth will have a translation of the book. You are to take it to Willow Rosenberg. When she has it she will contact us and we can do the spell simultaneously. Doing that will increase it's power and hopefully do some damage to the vampire population."  
"How?"  
"Creating a disease that wipes them out."  
"How do I know I won't get affected?" Locked in a gaze with the stubborn man Spike refused to stop.  
"The chip should keep you safe." One of the nicer field operatives answered, mostly to stop the argument and get the meeting over with.   
"You understand Elizabeth?"  
"Yes."  
"Good. You have your assignment. We expect to hear from you within 24 hours. Here are your plane tickets."  
"Hey mate, I don't fly during the day." Spike hissed.  
"That's your problem." The woman handed Elizabeth the tickets and the Watchers filled out of the room leaving the vampire and the Slayer alone.   
When the sun went down that night they went to the airport, in truth they had been given night time tickets, the council had just done their version of teasing. Spike had no bags, and Elizabeth a small duffel that she clutched like a small child clutched a stuffed animal. Spike guessed it was all she really had, time sure were tough.  
"You want the window?" Spike raised a brow. "Ok I'll take the window." Elizabeth slid into the seat and buckled her belt. She folded her hands in her lap and sat silently. Spike watched with interest.   
"Slayer, are you afraid of flying?"  
"What? Me? No."  
"So your hands aren't white? Just pale from lack of sun."  
"Would you shut up? God you're annoying. Remember I can stake you?"   
"Oh Spike, please will you come with me? I deserve a little bit more respect than that you bint."   
"Shut up."  
"If you tell me that again I'll-"  
"Up there. See those two. Vampires."  
"I see. But are you saying we should stake em? It would cause an uproar. We wait until the plane lands."  
"That's like 6 hours."  
"But they can't do anything now. Maybe they just want to go on vacation."  
"Ok. So Spike, what's with your happy?"  
"Call it nerves Slayer. I haven't seen these people for 20 bloody years. They probably want to give me an ass kicking. I doubt I'm the person they're most wanting to see now."  
"But we come bearing the book."  
"Does that make a difference? You can't even fathom what twenty years is to a human. To me, it's nothing. It's still too soon." Spike glared past her to the window which displayed the night scene of London as they took off.   
"Your right, I can't fathom. I might not live to twenty." Elizabeth said, closing her eyes, looking pale as moonlight.   
"Never mind. Let's just watch this movie." Spike bit his lip until it bled and sucked out the blood, a habit that had repulsed Buffy way back when.   
The plane landed quicker than Spike would have imagined and they were soon in a cab going towards The Cemetery. Spike had convinced Elizabeth to visit his old haunt before they set up shop in a hotel. Sure enough there was his crypt. But it wasn't his own anymore. Defiled by 20 years of other vampires the place was a mess. As clear as Spike could tell there weren't any living there anymore.   
Leaving Elizabeth at the door he headed to his basement as he liked to call it. Not many knew about the lower level. He found the trap door, something he could still do in pitch darkness and inhaled 20 years of dust and grime. No one had bothered it. He went inside and found the remains of his shrine to Buffy. It was eerily creepy, this memorial and he soon escaped back upstairs.   
"Come on." He said to Elizabeth, hurrying past her out into the early morning haziness.  
"What, you don't want to give me the grand tour?"  
"Spike?" Spike stopped short of the man in uniform.  
"Harris?" Spike's draw dropped. 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7  
  
Even though 20 years had passed Spike knew the man was Buffy's old friend Xander Harris. The man had the beginnings of a beer belly, but he still had all his hair, and a cop uniform to boot.  
"What are you doing here Spike? Haven't seen you since that night." Xander had never liked him but the deadly look he was giving Spike now was enough to scare Satan himself.   
"I brought along a Slayer. This is Elizabeth." Spike stepped aside to reveal the young woman. Xander's eyes went wide.   
"Buffy?"  
"Why do you people call me that?" She rolled her eyes.  
"It's her in there." Spike whispered. For a moment Xander looked wistful and sad but then the mask he had been wearing slipped over his face.  
"You deserted us."  
"I had no choice."  
"You promised her to protect Dawn. You let her down." Xander scratched at Spike's open wounds. He wished he could pummel the guy. Xander knew that he was hurting Spike and didn't care.  
"I know. I'm back now. And it's not like I haven't continued fighting. There's a war on Harris."  
"Don't patronize me Spike!" Xander cut in. "I see it every day. That's why I'm out here!  
"I couldn't stay here. You have no idea."  
"No idea? You're a- I'm not even Spike. Not now. I have a patrol to go on."   
"Hey. Mr Harris? Wait?" Xander turned at Elizabeth's beckoning. "I know you're really mad at Spike or whatever, and you all think that I'm Buffy, but if I am, he didn't really desert me. He helped me when I needed him most, again. We've been through a lot the past few days, and I wouldn't have been able to get through it without him, so could you please give him a chance? For me?" Spike had to hand it to her, when she wanted too she could be quite convincing and all that sort of crap.  
"Keep up. We check in at the shop at dawn." They followed Xander for another hour, helping him. It seemed there were vampires at every corner. Spike had noticed it when he had crossed the town line. It was the same foreboding feeling he had gotten every time he had come in the past.  
Spike was impressed that Xander had survived as long as he had. But watching him as they vanquished vampire after vampire, he understood. They guy had passion. He threw himself into the situation without a thought to his own life.   
"The magic shop was eerily just as Spike remembered. But he got the shock of his life when he entered the aromatic store. Standing talking to Willow was Angel, Cordy and a young man that looked like Angel but couldn't be.  
"What the hell's this bloody poofter doing here?" Spike snarled.  
"Buffy?" Angel looked at Elizabeth who hid behind Spike when everyone started staring at her.  
"What the hells this shy act for? You were a bloody bitch when we were in Europe. Sod off." Spike shook her from his old coat.   
"And it's just one big happy reunion." Anya said sarcastically. It took a few minutes of Willow's calming ways to sort through everything, enough so Spike could understand and they could tolerate him enough to not stake him on the sight.  
"And you're married?" Spike squinted at Anya and Xander.   
"Yes." Anya shook her head slowly, again. "How many times do I have to tell you?"  
"And you have a kid?" Angel nodded. "And you don't?" he turned to Xander and Anya who shrugged. "And your witch is dead?" Willow sniffled and Spike immediately felt bad. "Where's little bit."  
"Right here." Dawn came through the door and sized up Spike. She gave Elizabeth a curious look but said nothing. Dawn looked the most changed, having gone through puberty and aged.   
It was funny how Spike found comfort in Angel now, someone whom 25 years ago he hated with a fiery passion. Now they were both the young looking vampires, tortured by love and curses.   
"Can I say something, seeing as how I really don't know any of you all that well, and The Watcher's Council has decided to drag us from LA to be part of this war which they say is my destiny?"  
"Yes." Everyone agreed. "What do you want to say?"  
"Um. I kind of don't remember. But another thing, you're all very strange."  
"Can I add something?" They turned to Elizabeth. Connor gave her a small smile. "I've been getting this from the moment I met Spike. I'm not Buffy. Or not anymore. I'm pretty cool about this past life theory, but please don't make me what I'm not." The last part of the sentence, with its cold tone reminded Spike of the girl he had met in that alley in London.   
"I have to go to the station." Xander announced, and left without a goodbye. Everyone immediately went into gear, scurrying around.   
"Make yourself useful." Cordelia shoved a box of something at Spike.   
"Willow?"   
"I brought this for you." Elizabeth showed Willow the translation.   
"Oh good. This is good." Willow sat down, and chewed on her lip while Anya brought her over a pile of books, like clockwork and Spike was an extra gear. Everyone seemed to forget Spike and Elizabeth were there, except for Connor.   
"Hey, do you want to come with me to go get coffee and donuts for everyone?" Connor asked Elizabeth. She looked to Spike and he raised his brow. She rolled her eyes and headed out the door with Connor.  
"So you're the Slayer?"  
"One and only. And apparently a reincarnation of this old Slayer that they all were friends with."  
"Wow. That's kind of crazy." Connor ran a hand through his dark spiky hair, and looked more like the brother of his father, rather than the son. His skin was tanned from the California sun and he had soulful brown eyes.  
"Tell me about it. Or rather, about you."  
"Well my father is Angel, the vampire with a soul."  
"I've heard of him. How do vampires have kids? I thought they were like…"  
"My mum was a vampire too. I'm kind of a miracle child." He blushed, as if he were bragging. "Some destiny crap or something."   
"Yeah. Destiny sucks." They reached the Expresso Pump, the same as always and got food. Elizabeth wished that most of the Watcher's Diaries on Buffy Summers hadn't burned in the fire. She wanted to know how this boy, and his father Angel connected with Buffy. Maybe it would help her be a better Slayer, or a better person in their eyes.  
Elizabeth had grown up in the vampire infested streets of London. She had never known anything but the Council, and the misery of darkness. These people, they knew about it, but they were normal, like everyone else. She could tell.   
"Oh, you have coffee." Dawn pounced on them when they entered the shop, like a younger woman might have done. Elizabeth felt drawn to the Slayer's Sister.   
"How is the translation helping?"  
"Fairly well." Willow said taking a coffee.  
"Bring me anything?" Spike asked.  
"Yeah. Went out of my way to stop at the butcher's. Oh I guess, I drank it. Oh well." Elizabeth stuck her tongue out at Spike.   
"So Xander's a cop now?" Spike tried again to talk to Anya. The woman was running around the shop and barely stopped to answer Willow's questions. Her face had grown squinched and pinched, and a fake smile was constantly attached to it. Spike didn't need to guess, he knew, that it had been a long twenty years for them. It was something he would never know, growing older.   
"Someone has to protect the town from evil other than vampires." Anya answered. They had never hated each other like Willow and Xander had hated him, and he found her easiest to talk too. "He tries. He's a good husband." Anya looked at her ring for a moment, pausing from her scurrying.   
"But you aren't happy?"  
"We're happy. Who said we weren't? It's just that Sunnydale is to dangerous for children right now. Willow's perfectly happy without children, and so Dawn. People have them a lot older now too."  
"Stand down woman." Spike shook his head. What a sorry lot he had returned too.   
"Hey Spike, why don't you take a long walk out into the sunlight." Cordy said helpfully. Spike looked at her from under his brow. He raised an eye at Angel who was next to her. He motioned to Spike to follow him to the backroom. 


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8  
"What's your real reason for being here Spike? What did you do to that girl?"  
"What's the third degree for mate? We're in the same boat. Don't forget you went Angelus on them before." Spike had been expecting sympathy from Angel and was surprised at the hypocritical vampire.   
"We were never in the same boat Spike."  
"She's her ya know."  
"I know." Angel looked away, and Spike could see tears in his eyes.  
"So that's it. Can't stand her liking me now, not you."  
"You idiot Spike. It was never about that."  
"No? That's a surprise. I seem to remember your vicious jealousy over what I had with Dru and then when Darla liked me for a time."  
"Don't mess with me boy." Angel growled, on edge.   
"Hit a nerve did I Old man?"  
"Don't start with me."  
"This started a long time ago and you know it. That day with Acathla, you knew that I was falling for her. But Angelus didn't care. But Angel did. You only left because you thought I was gone for good. Admit it. There was always something between us."  
"Why am I even arguing with you? Buffy's dead Spike, and you're just tarnishing her memory."  
"No mate, I think we need to have this out, here and now."  
"No." They both turned their heads. Elizabeth was standing in the doorway. "Look, I don't know much about Buffy, but since I am her, I think I know what she would say to this. And she wouldn't want you to fight each other. She would feel honored that you both love her so much, but now it's time to put the past aside and work together. Isn't that what she did when she fought by your side to stop Angelus and then Glory? She understands needing allies and both of you should too." She crossed her arms, expectant, waiting for the results."  
"You loved her as Angelus. That's why you never killed her, can't I love her as Spike?" Spike offered his peace.   
"Make sure you never hurt her." It was Angel making peace, conceding. They left the practice room and found Willow jumping around, hyper.   
"I got it! The poison! We can do it. We can wipe 'em out. Once we test it in Sunnydale we can get started on the rest of the world." The phone rang as she explained how it would work, and Anya answered the phone.  
"That's great that we can wipe out some vampires. Maybe even a lot. But it isn't going to cut it if the key is going to open up the portals again."  
"What?" They all asked in unison.  
"The knights of Byzantium. They figured out how to extract the energy and destroy it for good. Because we know that killing Dawn may stop it from flowing but the energy is still there. And they are on their way, along with-"  
"Isn't that against the laws of physics?" Angel asked.  
"I didn't finish. Doc has been spotted in the US, he isn't dead. The Council wanted to warn us that another cycle has started and he might try to do it again. And they also want the poison as soon as you're done Will, seeing as you're the only person who can make it." Anya was unnervingly calm, serving the information.   
"No one is going to touch her." Spike growled, immediately taking his old role back.   
"Dear Spike." Dawn looked at him, with the wisdom of a grown woman, no longer his Little Bit. "I've lasted this long. I'll be ok."  
"This sounds serious. I don't want to take any chances if this is the scenario of Buffy's death." Angel spoke up.  
"I agree. History repeats itself." Elizabeth added with a grimace.   
"Call Xander." Willow said to Anya. Everyone's faces morphed. They were a unit, a force against darkness. They would win. They always won, sometimes at great costs. 


End file.
